One in Five Children Suffer Mental Health Issues, ADHD Tops CDC’s List

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes that one in five children suffers from mental health issues.

According to the agency, mental health disorders in children range from ADHD and substance disorders to depression and other issues.

In a news release, CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden writes:

“Millions of children in the US have mental disorders that affect their overall health and present challenges for their loved ones. In addition, the financial costs of childhood mental disorders are at least an estimated $247 billion each year.”

The CDC says, of all mental health issues, ADHD is the most commonly prevalent mental illness in children. The CDC estimates that 7% of all cases involve attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The agency also finds that 3.5%of all mental illness in children are behavioral based and 3% focus on anxiety. Based on those numbers, the agency believes 4.8 million children suffer from ADHD.

The CDC warns that drug, alcohol, and tobacco issues top the list for teens.

The health based agency writes:

“We are working to both increase our understanding of these disorders, and help scale up programs and strategies to promote children’s mental health so that our children grow to lead productive, healthy lives.”

You may recall that, back in March 2013, the CDC also estimated that one in 50 US children now suffers from autism spectrum disorder. The autism estimate was an increase from one in 88 children in 2012.

The CDC is focusing strongly on children with mental health issues in an attempt to understand how those issues come about.

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Mental Health Issues Found in 1 Out of 5 Children: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder